Organizational Change for the Human Services

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Packard
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Change Process ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Change Leadership ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Arc Model ◽  
Organizational Culture Change

This book presents an evidence-based conceptual framework for planning and implementing organizational change processes specifically focused on human service organizations (HSOs). After a brief discussion of relevant theory and a review of key challenges facing HSOs that create opportunities for organizational change, a detailed conceptual framework outlines an organizational change process. Two chapters are devoted to the essential role of an organization’s executive or other manager as a change leader. Five chapters cover the steps of the change process, beginning with identifying a problem or change opportunity; then defining a change goal; assessing the present state of the organization (the change problem and organizational readiness and capacity to engage in change); and determining an overall change strategy. Twenty-one evidence-based organizational change tactics are presented to guide implementation of the process. Tactics include communicating the urgency for change and the change vision; developing an action system that includes a change sponsor, a change champion, a change leadership team and action teams; providing support to staff; facilitating the development and approval of ideas to achieve the change goal; institutionalizing the changes within organizational systems; and evaluating the change process and outcomes. Four case examples from public and nonprofit HSOs are used to illustrate change tactics. Individual chapters cover change technologies and methods, including action research; team building; conflict management; quality improvement methods; organization redesign; organizational culture change; using consultants; advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice; capacity building; implementation science methods; specific models, including the ARC model; and staff-initiated organizational change.

Creating a Business Unit Within a Large Sports and Entertainment Organization's Theatre Operation

2019 ◽  
pp. 483-491
Author(s):  
John Baaki ◽  
Maria Cseh
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Human Resource Development ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Case History ◽  
Change Process ◽  
Action Learning ◽  
Shop Floor ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Frontline Employees ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives

This reflective case history illustrates the change process in a USA sports and entertainment's theatre organization led by its leader in consultation with a human resource development and organizational change professional. Evidence-based organizational change and development informed by the theoretical perspectives on shop floor management and action learning guided the change process conceptualized on the belief that frontline employees should play a major role in driving change in organizations, and their learning and reflection is crucial in this process.

Evidence-Based Organizational Change and Development

2016 ◽  
pp. 120-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G Hamlin
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Design Science ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Change Agency ◽  
Line Managers ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Managing Change ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Replication Research ◽  
Partnership Research

This chapter is targeted mainly toward HRD practitioners and line managers who are actively involved in bringing about effective and beneficial organizational change and development (OCD) within their own respective organizations and/or within host organizations. Its purpose is to help them to appreciate more fully the complexities of the process issues of managing change, and the value of using theory and results of rigorous internal research in a very conscious and focused way to inform, shape, and evaluate their own change agency practice. After discussing why so many OCD programs fail, the author argues that ‘evidence-based management' and ‘evidence-based HRD', coupled with HRD's understanding of and alignment with the strategic thrust of the business, will likely lead to more effective OCD initiatives and programs. Several case examples of evidence-based OCD from the United Kingdom are presented, and the merits of ‘design science', ‘professional partnership research' and ‘replication research' are discussed.

Challenges and Opportunities

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-33
Author(s):  
Thomas Packard
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Board Members ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Technical Aspects ◽  
Organizational Goals ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Human service organizations are faced with environments of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The COVID-19 pandemic, other healthcare challenges, expectations for evidence-based practice usage, and racial justice are vivid examples. Clients and communities deserve effective services delivered by competent, compassionate, and committed staff members. Taxpayers, donors, philanthropists, policymakers, and board members deserve to have their contributions used to deliver programs that are effective and efficient. All these forces create demands and opportunities for organizational change. Planned organizational change can happen at the level of a program, a division, or an entire organization. Administrators and other staff will need complementary skills in leading and managing organizational change. Staff deserve opportunities to have their unique competencies used to achieve organizational goals. Organizational change involves leading and mobilizing staff to address problems, needs, or opportunities facing the organization by using change processes that involve both human and technical aspects of the organization.

Reflections on an Organizational Change Process in a Medium-Sized Bavarian Family Business

2019 ◽  
pp. 570-583
Author(s):  
Mark J. Woodbridge ◽  
Regina H. Mulder
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Family Business ◽  
Change Process ◽  
Health Expenditure ◽  
Employee Health ◽  
Previous Experience ◽  
Health Costs ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Organizational Alignment ◽  
Order Processing

The objective of the initial Organizational Change Workshop, conducted on behalf of a medium-sized family-owned business, was to reduce employee health costs. During the workshop, it was soon clear that the main cause of the problems was inefficient order-processing practices. The consultants correspondently revised their change approach. Previous experience was used (evidence informed), as well as information gathered during the complete assignment (evidence based), together enabling a successful re-organizational alignment and a subsequent reduction in health expenditure.

Organizational Change and Development

2021 ◽  
pp. 1792-1820
Author(s):  
Robert G. Hamlin
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Design Science ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Change Agency ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Replication Research ◽  
Partnership Research ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Agency Practices

This chapter first discusses the complexities of change in organizations and why so many OCD programs fail and makes the case for change agents to become evidence-based in their change agency practice. The author then offers a definition of evidence-based organizational change and development (EBOCD) and outlines the types of “best evidence” that can be used to inform and shape the formulation and implementation of OCD strategies and to critically evaluate the associated processes and change agency practices. Various distinctive evidence-based initiatives for OCD are discussed and several case examples from the United Kingdom are presented. The chapter closes with a discussion of the specific merits of “design science,” “professional partnership” research, and “replication” research.

Results-oriented versus Process-oriented Human Service Organizations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony L. Hemmelgarn ◽  
Charles Glisson
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Mental Models ◽  
Goal Setting ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Human Service Organizations ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Implicit Beliefs ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Process Oriented

This chapter explains the ARC principle of being results oriented versus process oriented. The results-oriented principle requires that human service organizations evaluate performance based on how much the well-being of clients improves. The principle addresses deficits in service caused by the conflicting priority of evaluating performance with process criteria such as the number of clients served, billable service hours, or the extent to which bureaucratic procedures such as the completion of paperwork are followed. Results-oriented organizations are described in detail, including case examples from decades of organizational change efforts by the authors in human service organizations. The chapter documents the importance of results-oriented approaches and underlying implicit beliefs to help the reader understand how mindsets and mental models shared among organizational members influence results-oriented approaches and effectiveness in practice. Supporting research, including feedback and goal-setting research are highlighted.

Building Cultures and Climates for Effective Human Services

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony L. Hemmelgarn ◽  
Charles Glisson
Keyword(s):  
Human Services ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Research Experience ◽  
Organizational Strategies ◽  
Organizational Improvement ◽  
Case Examples ◽  
Arc Model ◽  
Service Barriers ◽  
Human Services Organizations

This book explains how organizational culture and climate affect the quality and outcomes of human services and describes the Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity (ARC) model of organizational effectiveness that the authors developed for improving social service, behavioral health, health care, and other human service organizations. The authors summarize decades of practice and research experience, including organizational improvement efforts, randomized controlled trials, and nationwide studies with hundreds of human services organizations. The book provides a balance between the use of empirical data and applied examples in explaining how human services can be improved. By combining numerous case examples and experiential knowledge with decades of organizational research, readers learn about empirically proven approaches tested in real organizations that are supported with case examples of organizational change. The book explains that creating the organizational social contexts necessary for providing effective services requires three types of organizational strategies. These strategies include organizational tools for identifying and addressing service barriers, principles for aligning organizational priorities to guide improvement, and the development of shared mental models among organizational members to support the principles and tools.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-16
Author(s):  
Thomas Packard
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Human Services ◽  
Change Agent ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Change Leadership ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
General Management ◽  
Change Leaders ◽  
Theory Research

Anyone in an organization has the potential to become an organizational change agent. A review of common ways of viewing organizations (e.g., as machines, cultures, or organisms) gives change leaders frameworks to understand and make sense of organizational operations. The purpose of this book is to offer a package of theory, research, and practice that can provide guidance to anyone working in a human services organization, from practicing administrators and other staff to students and consultants, who see opportunities to improve some aspect of an organization’s functioning. The evidence base includes the human services and general management literatures and the author’s research on organizational change. Four cases of change initiatives provide examples of the concepts and materials in some chapters. The sections of the book include challenges and change opportunities, a conceptual framework, change leadership, a change model, generic organizational change methods, and change methods for human service organizations.

Improvement Methods for Human Service Organizations

2021 ◽  
pp. 275-291
Author(s):  
Thomas Packard
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Change ◽  
Human Service ◽  
Human Service Organizations ◽  
Service Organizations ◽  
Research Network ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Evidence Based Practices ◽  
National Implementation ◽  
Fund Development ◽  
Practice Implementation

A number of methods for improving organizational operations are becoming more common in human service organizations. Capacity building typically addresses enhancing management systems capacity in areas such as strategic planning, information systems, and fund development. Benchmarking and best practices are tools that can be used at the level of the entire organization or for specific service delivery practices to search for models that can be adapted to one’s own organization. Implementing evidence-based practices, known broadly as implementation science, is a very common organizational change challenge for human service organizations these days. Formal evidence-based practice implementation methods for human service organizations include the exploration, adoption/preparation, implementation, and sustainment model and the work of the National Implementation Research Network. Organizational learning and learning organization principles are become increasingly better known in human service organizations and actually represent an arena of organizational change that can help organizations develop ongoing methods for continuous improvement.

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